Soy Candle Making Supplies

Soy candle making supplies... What you need and where to get it

Soy candle making supplies - exactly what do you need, and where can you get it?

Much like cooking a meal, you need two basic types of supplies: your general equipment
such as pots and pans, and your soy candle recipe ingredients such as wax and wicks.

I've organized the soy candle supplies into some basic categories to
make them easier to find. Scroll through them to get an overall look at soy candle making supply
needs.

General Soy Candle Making Supplies

A protective cover for your countertop or table such as a plastic tablecloth or several layers of newspaper.
Colored wax can stain surfaces, and its heat can cause marks.

A stove or hot plate to heat the wax.

A large pot
you can use for heating the pitcher of wax. (You place the candle
pitcher holding the wax into the pot and fill the pot with water so the
wax doesn't burn onto the bottom of the candle pitcher.)

A pot or candle pitcher to hold the wax.

You can buy a candle making pitcher.
The plastic handle means you don't have to worry
about the pot slipping
out of your hands. A heat-proof glass
pitcher like a Pyrex would work too, but the glass handle can get hot.

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Soy Candle Containers

Containers for soy candle making
can range from tea lights to glass jars to coffee cups to just about
anything ceramic, metal or glass you have around your house. For example, simple aluminum candle tins are light, unbreakable and have a nice minimalist vibe.

Let your imagination guide you, but be sensible - your container has to be able to cope with heat of fresh-poured wax. No plastic! I like trolling second hand shops to get one-of-a-kind candle containers.

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Candle Molds for Soy Pillar Candles

Candle molds can be made from aluminum, polycarbonate plastic or silicone.

Look for molds with a "seamless" design so you don't have to polish the seam line off your finished candle.

You may want to use a mold release to make it easier to get your completed candle out of the mold.
You don't always need it for small, simple molds but you're definitely going to want it for larger, trickier shapes!

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Soy Candle Making Kits

Usually, everything you need is included
in the kit (and if not, they tell you) along with clear, step-by-step
instructions specific to that kit's project. It takes some of the
guesswork and uncertainty out of it, which can be nice if you're a
beginner.

If you're looking for a great gift for a crafty person, I'd definitely recommend a soy candle making kit!

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Soy Wax for Candle Making

Soy wax for candle making.
Pillar candles need a harder wax than container candles, usually a
vegetable wax blend (soy wax alone is pretty soft, which is why it needs
a container to hold it.)

There are lots of types of candle making soy wax, and a good supplier will make it very clear if the wax is suitable for making container or pillar candles.

Types of soy wax vary in the percentage of fragrance they can tolerate,
usually from about 3% to 6%. Simply choose by performance or price.
Since essential oils have a more much subtle scent than candle fragrance
oils, I recommend buying wax with the highest tolerance you can afford.

Handy Hint: Buy soy wax flakes or chips rather than a block of wax if you can - flakes melt WAY faster.

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Wicks for Soy Candles

Choosing the correct wick size and type is probably the hardest part of the whole project and it's important to get it right, or your candle won't burn properly.

Fatter candles need a wider wick (candle wicks can range from 3/16" to upwards of 1/8")
and you should look for wicks recommended for vegetable waxes.

If you're not sure what candle wick to use for your project, ask your
supplier - they're there to help. If they don't, they're the wrong
supplier!

Wicks for Container Candles

The easiest way to make soy container candles using
pre-waxed, tabbed wicks. Most of these wicks are made of cotton, and they're steady, safe and non-toxic. They come in a variety of sizes, so it's usually pretty easy to match them to the size of candle you're making.

A wooden wick's flame is slightly larger than cotton wicks, but if you keep it trimmed properly it actually has a slower, cleaner burn.

You need to trim the wick after 4 hours of burn time because after about four hours the flame gets too big. Then it burns through the wax more quickly and can discolor the wax. Handy hint: Use nail clippers to trim the wick.

Make sure you melt the wax all the way to the edge of the jar on every burn, especially the first. (This can take a few hours.) If the wax isn't fully melted all the way to the edge, it won't melt all the way out on future burns, which shortens the life of the candle and you'll end up throwing out the unburned part.

Another helpful tool for making soy jar candles is a wick holder to keep the wick centered in the jar. Or you can use a popsicle stick with a hole drilled in the center of it.

You thread the top of the wick through the
hole and set the wick bar or popsicle stick into place on top of the jar
and voila! your wick is safely centered. This is important for making
sure candle burns evenly.

Wicks for Pillar Candles

The wick material used in making soy pillar candles is sold in spools. Candle molds come in lots of shapes and sizes, so you need to be able to cut your wick to the proper length.

Candle molds MUST BE SEALED at the bottom or hot wax will pour out the wick hole, making a big mess. The most common way to seal the wick-hole is to use mold sealing putty, which is a highly adhesive, flexible substance.

Candle making is much easier if you use a wick holder to keep the wick centered in the mold (and they're really not expensive, so why not!)

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Candle Fragrances

I personally prefer using pure, natural essential oils to make soy wax
scented candles. BUT essential oils don't have as strong or long-lasting
a scent as synthetic candle fragrances.

If you want a strong, lingering scent use fragrance oils - if you want a natural candle use essential oils and resign yourself to a comparatively weak scent throw.

Soy Candle Making Supplies

Candle Dyes and Colorants

Candle dyes come in two basic forms: blocks or liquids.

Color blocks are good for beginners because it's relatively easy to control shades and match colors, and they're not as messy.

A good starting rate is 1 block of color in 5
pounds of wax and you can use less or more from there. If you want a
darker color, a little bit of black wax coloring block works wonders.

Liquid candle dyes
are very concentrated (and they stain anything you spill them on.)
It's harder to control color results with liquid dyes, so take notes
when you experiment. They can sometimes concentrate at the bottom of the
candle or leave a residue on your candle mold, which can affect the
color of your next project.

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